FML can we just have a liberal candidate for once? Please? We are going to choose between Hilary and Rick Santorum? Really? God damnit I am moving. I mean, I'm not, but I would if I could. </3

It's going to be Hillary. And to prove she can be as strong as a man, she's going to be stronger than any man. Margaret Thatcher part II coming up.

(August 20, 2014 at 12:23 am)stonedape Wrote: I'm about as liberal as they come, but I'm ready to swallow my pride and vote for Ron Paul. We really need a libertarian to straighten out our foreign policy and the federal reserve.

He's not running.

His son, RAND Paul is but he's no libertarian. He's an authoritarian conservative.

In 2016, we will invade you and enslave you.
Muahahahahaha

I think I'll pass this time around. I barely slipped into the voting booth in the last election, and I'm far more dissatisfied with the system this time to even attempt to vote.

Even with as many screw-ups as Obama has had in the last term and a half...I can't see how any GOP candidate would win the general election due to the GOPs stance and statements on things like gay marriage, abortion, pot legalization, and other social issues. The younger voters are overwhelmingly on one side of these issues, and the GOP is on the other.

(August 19, 2014 at 10:08 pm)Polaris Wrote: Republicans may win by a narrow margin because the Democrats have been sabotaging themselves since Obama took office (well starting in 2006, which is why the Tea Party had such an unexpected success).

The Tea Party is unpredictable, and might hurt the GOP more than help it. They seem to strike a chord among the rank-and-file conservatives and pseudo-libertarians much more so than the Green Party does among liberals. Because the USA has limited itself to two distinct political parties, the main effect any third party has is to drain votes from one of the two. The extreme polarization of politics here makes a mockery of the democratic ideal. We're only one choice short of having no choice at all.

(August 20, 2014 at 8:49 am)Tonus Wrote: pseudo-libertarians

Thumbs up just for using that term. That's the phrase I was looking for to describe Rand and his supporters.

As regards the pattern of GOP nominees, there is no way that Santorum will get it -- not a chance. That said, someone equally stupid, obnoxious, and useless will get the nomination. The Republicans have swung so far to the right among the rank and file that they really don't have much choice if they are to attract sufficient numbers to go to the polls. Besides, their most recent "moderate" candidates -- McCain and Romney -- blew up in their faces, and Bush (no proto-Tea Party conservative himself) was a disaster they are still trying to excise from the history books.

It must suck so much to be a GOP strategist. How do you find a candidate who isn't bat shit crazy, will hew to the party line on divisive GOP hobby horse issues, will have broad appeal among women and minorities, and will satisfy Wall Street banking and investment firms -- all while managing not to publicly step on his dick every time he speaks off the cuff?

Really, all the GOP can do is spend 2015/2016 running against Obama. Clinton will almost certainly be the Democrats' nominee, and there is nothing Republicans seem to like better than to bash the Clintons, but they have to be very careful: many people think of '93-'01 as relatively good times and Bill's popularity in certain circles remains undimmed. Even people who aren't thrilled at the prospect of a Hilary presidency will take one look at the upcoming GOP primary freak show and conclude that a Clinton twofer in the White House is not the worst thing imaginable.

I suppose I'll hold my nose (again) and vote Democratic, if only to prevent worse damage. In retrospect, I wish Obama hadn't won in '08. I wish McCain had got in so that the GOP would have had no choice but to own the consequences of the Bush years. It would have either destroyed their brand for good, or it would have forced them into more moderate positions on certain issues. As it is, they were given the luxury of eight years functioning as an opposition party whose only job was to obstruct and blame.

(August 20, 2014 at 11:37 am)Crossless1 Wrote: It must suck so much to be a GOP strategist.

Being a strategist for a batshit crazy group in the era of free information does seem like it would suck.